Water treatment apparatus

Claim 1

An apparatus for treating water, comprising in combination an inlet pipe with an in-line static mixing member for introducing water into said apparatus, means for feeding chemical to said inlet pipe carrying said water, a built-in flotation monitor accepting signals of pH, streaming current, turbidity, and optical density and adjusting the feeding of said chemical, a cylindrical outer tank having the bottom thereof as an outside wall of said apparatus, means for connecting said flotation monitor to said inlet pipe, means for feeding pH buffer chemical to said inlet pipe in response to said flotation monitor, a cylindrical inner open vessel disposed within said outer tank for flocculation and sedimentation, means for introducing water tangentially into the bottom said cylindrical inner open vessel, means for removing settled, heavy silts, and sludges from the bottom of said open vessel, means for introducing effluent from said inner open vessel into said outer tank, a cylindrical inner pressure vessel positioned within said open vessel for aeration and gas dissolution under pressure to produce water containing supersaturated air pressure, means for tangentially introducing water into said pressure vessel, means for introducing gas to be pressurized into said pressure vessel through a porous tube so as to create a uniform flow pattern for dissolving gas, means for measuring th flow rates of water and various gases in said inlet pipe, open vessel, and pressure vessel, releasing means for introducing the water containing super-saturated air to be depressurized and clarified from said pressure vessel into said outer tank for mixing with said effluent bubble generation and flotation purification, sludge scooping and scraping means for removing floated sludge from the liquid surface of said outer tank, sludge hopper and scraper blade means for removing settled, heavy sludges from the bottom of said outer tank, sludge discharge means for transporting said floated sludge through a sludge collection member to a dewatering device, a recycle tank over the bottom of said outer tank for collection of flotation purified water, an outlet for discharging said flotation purified water form said recycle tank to an in-line water treater and then to discharge as a product water, a moving carriage having a platform supported between the upper portion of the wall of said outer tank and the upper portion of the wall of said open vessel so as to hold said releasing means, sludge scooping and scraping means, and driving motors, means for circular moving said moving carriage together with said releasing means, sludge scooping, and scraping means, and driving motors along outer and inner rails on said apparatus and around the vertical axis of said apparatus, means for recycling a portion of water form said recycle tank into said pressure vessel to form water to be pressurized ten depressurized and clarified, and means for generating an electronic or magnetic field in the in-line water treater for control of biological fouling, scaling and corrosion.

Claim 2

An apparatus for treating water, comprising in combination an inlet pipe with an in-line static mixing member for introducing water into said apparatus, means for feeding chemical to said inlet pipe carrying said water, a built-in flotation monitor accepting signals of pH, streaming current, turbidity, and optical density and adjusting the feeding of said chemical, a cylindrical outer tank having the bottom thereof as an outside wall of said apparatus, means for connecting said flotation monitor to said inlet pipe, means for feeding pH buffer chemical to said inlet pipe in response to said flotation monitor, a cylindrical inner open vessel disposed within said outer tank for flocculation and sedimentation, means for introducing water tangentially into the bottom said cylindrical inner open vessel, means for removing settled, heavy silts, and sludges from the bottom of said open vessel, means for introducing effluent from said inner open vessel into said outer tank, a cylindrical inner pressure vessel positioned within said open vessel for aeration and gas dissolution under pressure to produce water containing supersaturated air pressure, means for tangentially introducing water into said pressure vessel, means for introducing gas to be pressurized into said pressure vessel through a porous tube so as to create a uniform flow pattern for dissolving gas, means for measuring th flow rates of water and various gases in said inlet pipe, open vessel, and pressure vessel, releasing means for introducing the water containing super-saturated air to be depressurized and clarified from said pressure vessel into said outer tank for mixing with said effluent bubble generation and flotation purification, sludge scooping and scraping means for removing floated sludge from the liquid surface of said outer tank, sludge hopper and scraper blade means for removing settled, heavy sludges from the bottom of said outer tank, sludge discharge means for transporting said floated sludge through a sludge collection member to a dewatering device, a recycle tank over the bottom of said outer tank for collection of flotation purified water, an outlet for discharging said flotation purified water form said recycle tank to an in-line water treater and then to discharge as a product water, a moving carriage having a platform supported between the upper portion of the wall of said outer tank and the upper portion of the wall of said open vessel so as to hold said releasing means, sludge scooping and scraping means, and driving motors, means for circular moving said moving carriage together with said releasing means, sludge scooping, and scraping means, and driving motors along outer and inner rails on said apparatus and around the vertical axis of said apparatus, means for recycling a portion of water form said recycle tank into said pressure vessel to form water to be pressurized ten depressurized and clarified, and means for generating an electronic or magnetic field in the in-line water treater for control of biological fouling, scaling and corrosion.